Man To Man
by Karevsanatomy
Summary: Mark lays it all out there for Derek on why Meredith chose him. Meredith/Mark


-1_Author's Note: I was a bit conflicted on which category to post this. In the end, I decided on the pairing. I hope it was the right decision. This one shot was inspired by the song Man to Man by Gary Allan. _

**Man To Man**

_You're throwin' around a lot of serious accusations  
Ain't too hard to tell what you're insinuatin'  
You think I'm the one who stole her away  
If not for me she'd still be yours today  
We're both men here so why play games  
Why don't we call a spade a spade_

Killing the engine of his sleek black Ducati, Mark slid his smoky lens aviators onto his head. No sooner had he swung his leg over the seat, his thick soled boot making a splash in a shallow puddle, than he felt a firm hand grabbing him by the shoulder. His body spun around, partially by the shock of being caught unaware and partially from sheer gravity. He didn't have time to register the fact that Derek looked more angry than he had ever seen him before his so called best friend slammed a fist into his jaw.

"What the hell?" Mark yelled, rubbing the offended spot. His arm shot up, deflecting another well aimed hit before it could actually make contact with his face. "Are you insane?"

"It all makes sense now," Derek sneered. His face had turned mottled, anger twisting his features into an ugly mask. "Her sudden reason for wanting to call it quits. I thought it was her past, her parental issues, but no. It all comes back to you. Just like last time. You just can't help yourself can you? You see that I am happy and you have to steal it. You had to steal her. Just like before."

It all made sense. Mark almost laughed at how similar his thoughts were to what Derek had hurtled at him. This was about Meredith. Specifically, this was about Meredith and he formerly letting it be known that they were a couple, one that was living together and talking about making things more serious.

"You really think that don't you?" Mark asked. He shook his head. Of course Derek really thought that. To think otherwise would mean facing the fact that at times he wasn't wrong. Mark couldn't recall one moment when Derek openly admitted he was wrong. "I wasn't the reason your marriage to Addison fell apart. That relationship was destroyed long before I started screwing her. As for Meredith, well, maybe it did start before she called it quits with you, but that doesn't mean its my fault. You want some one to blame Derek, then take a good long look in the mirror."

_Man to man  
Tell me the truth, tell me  
Were you ever there when she needed you  
Man to man  
Look me in the eye, tell me  
If you really loved her  
Why'd you make her cry_

Derek stared at him, the muscle in his jaw twitching. He was angry and hurt. Mark got that, he even respected and understood it. Facts couldn't be changed though. Derek was the one who had shoved Meredith into the arms of another man. If it hadn't been Mark, it would have been some one else. Mark thanked God every day that it was him though.

"Do you know how many times she called me?" Mark questioned Derek. He knew the other man didn't know. How could he? Derek had been gone, shutting Meredith out a little bit at a time. "At least twice a week. Always after you had called her with some excuse for why you wouldn't be home. She was all alone, Derek. Alone. You made her roommates move out. You made her world revolve around you so much that you became her world. And how did you repay her? You chose paperwork and meetings."

"Important meetings," Derek defended hotly. It was a weak excuse and they both knew it. Those meetings had been set up on his schedule and the people they had been with would have gladly waited until the next day to talk to him.

"Right. So important that you missed your own engagement party," Mark shook his head. It had been rather awkward, standing next to Meredith while she accepted congratulations from old friends. It had been even more awkward explaining that Mark wasn't the groom to be. "Do you know how much she cried over that? How much she's cried over you period?"

_Man to man  
Who cheated who  
You're the one to blame  
Tell me it ain't true  
Man to man  
Man to man_

"You act like you're the wounded party here, Derek, when really it was her." Mark fought to maintain his cool. At first he had been angry on Meredith's part because she was a friend. As they grew closer, becoming lovers instead of just friends, the anger became more personal. He didn't understand how Derek could treat someone as special as Meredith so callously. It had made some sense with Addison. After all, Addie could be as cold and ruthless as Derek. Meredith wasn't made of the same clothe though, and her fragile ego couldn't take any more of being shut out.

"She cheated on me. She cheated on me with some one I thought was my best friend." Derek yelled. "I should have known better than to let you back into my life, though. This is what you do. You see something you want and you take it. Damn the consequences. Fuck whoever it hurts. Just so long as Mark gets what he wants."

_Well you think all your anger is justified  
Me, I think, it's just your wounded pride  
What did you really think she was gonna do  
She's a real woman, not a doormat for you  
You want her back, but it's too late  
Why don't we just cut to the chase_

Mark stared down at the ground. He couldn't stop shaking his head. Derek still wasn't seeing the full picture. "I didn't take her from you, Derek. You drove her away. You. Drove. Her. Away."

"So you keep saying," Derek shot back. "We had our problems, but I seriously doubt she would have given up so easily if you hadn't talked her into it."

"I didn't have to talk her into anything," Mark snickered. "You had beaten her down so far emotionally she was little more than a door mat. A woman like Meredith isn't happy being any man's door mat."

"I never treated her like a door mat," Derek argued weakly. It was a lie, they both knew he. It might not have been intentional but then again nothing Derek did was ever intentional. At least not when it came to hurting people he loved. For all intents and purposes, Derek was a good man. He just wasn't capable of seeing the forest for the trees. "I never meant to anyways. I love her, Mark. I love her and I can't live without her. Let her go. Let us have another chance."

_Man to man  
Tell me the truth, tell me  
Were you ever there when she needed you  
Man to man  
Look me in the eye, tell me  
If you really loved her  
Why'd you make her cry  
Man to man  
Who cheated who  
You're the one to blame  
Tell me it ain't true  
Man to man  
_

"If I thought letting her go would make her happy, I would. It won't though," Mark said quietly. He had wanted to be the one to tell Derek, and he guessed it was now or never. "As for her and you…it's a little too late for that, Derek."

"Not if you step back," Derek insisted.

Sighing, Mark scrubbed a hand down his face. "We're getting married," he explained, his voice soft, almost as though he thought his tone would soften the blow. He intentionally left out that the wedding was next week, and the reason for the rush. Derek would figure it out sooner or later, most of the hospital would. Meredith' stomach would give the secret away in several months time. "So, you see Derek, yet again you're too late. You realize things too late."

Mark stepped around the other man and headed toward the hospital. He couldn't stand there and watch his friend crumble. Especially when he wasn't sorry.


End file.
